Well, it looks like my F1 and Kimi obsession is officially spiralling out of hand this season. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty much all zen on the outside but the mental cracks are starting to show.
I really should stay away from trawling google news for F1-Kimi news but as previous seasons have proven, once I start it becomes a Mount Olympus type struggle to get off the metaphorical horse.
So the first 3 races have come and gone. Ferrari have not done well. This is me understating it. Basically, it is their worst start ever to a Formula 1 campaign since 1981. Isn't that a nice way for me to begin my new approach to F1-Kimi zen. A baptism of fire of sorts. Pile on the stress early on and see if she cracks.
Outwardly, I'm fine. I don't shout negatives at the tv, everything is all positive encouragements at a low-ish volume, sometimes applauding a move made on my own beloved driver. I guess this shows an emotional maturity on my part. That I can appreciate a great overtaking maneuver on Kimi without feeling resentful (read: wanting to bash my tv to pieces in frustration, or better yet, the driver in questions head!). I can even go as far as to say that I am able to enjoy watching the race even when it is a clear foregone conclusion that Kimi will not be anything worth mentioning in the news the next day.
But the slow mist of despair is starting to shroud my calmness. To curb/squelch the feelings dredged up by the awful start to the season Ferrari has made and make up for feeling bummed about the lacklustre performances, I have been reviewing the F1 2007 season race videos, specifically the Brazilian GP where Kimi won the race making him world champion. I thought it'd keep me from feeling disheartened but it kinda has me feeling worse. It just reminds me of the better times when they were on top and its hard to watch the struggles they are going through and being written off as non-entities this season. I know its the karmic circle, one minute you're at the top of the wheel and the next you're at the bottom, bla, bla, bla. Kimi has already had more than his fair share of being at the bottom. I think the guy deserves more than just the one break he got in '07. However painfully blissful it is to relive those '07 moments, it's become a drug and I keep watching that race over and over again since the Chinese GP yesterday.
It's not just on Kimi but Ferrari as a whole. They are simply too behind in the 2009 development, I can't seem to foresee an improvement in this coming weekend's race in Bahrain. I know they have talked about the car's development taking a step (or few, fingers crossed) forward at the Spanish GP but by then a lot of F1 pundits have said it might be too late. This is all especially more stressful as it could potentially be Kimi's last year in F1. He has never been one to conform to an F1 driver's mold and has mentioned before that breaking records set by drivers' past is not his aim. It is just to drive and win races. I could accept a retirement if he had managed to go on and win another championship but it will be a bitter pill to swallow if he leaves without achieving that. He is one of the most enigmatic drivers I have had the privelege to watch and it disappoints that he doesn't have more to show for it.
My hope was for him to launch a respectable campaign for this season but as it stands, this is a pipe dream at the moment. F1 is not the sport for playing catch up. By the time you are at the level of where the other cars were 3 races ago on a GP weekend, those other cars are most likely 2 levels ahead for that same race. It is hard to win coming from behind but not impossible. Kimi proved that in 2007 when he won his maiden championship. But all that aside, if Ferrari do decide to do minimal development on this year's car and instead concentrate on building for 2010 then I hope Kimi stays on for that. I cannot fathom walking away with a less than stellar swan song. When he leaves, I hope he gets all that he deserves and wants from formula 1 racing but I want it to be spectacular.
So, obviously I'm sounding like quite the nutter. But I'm so passionate about it. This sport and watching Kimi race is the one thing in my life right now that evokes such outward emotional responses. I'm usually more on the side of unemotional. Well, I project an air of "I-don't-care" attitude. There's always something going on internally. I want to remain positive. At least he has finished better than Felipe Massa and has outqualified him for grid positions twice in the first 3 races. I just hope Ferrari can actually finish the Bahrain race in the points with Kimi contributing. As it is, all they have is a big fat zero.
Nonetheless, however bleak the season is looking, Ferrari-Kimi can always rest assure that this tifosi will not give up on them.
I really should stay away from trawling google news for F1-Kimi news but as previous seasons have proven, once I start it becomes a Mount Olympus type struggle to get off the metaphorical horse.
So the first 3 races have come and gone. Ferrari have not done well. This is me understating it. Basically, it is their worst start ever to a Formula 1 campaign since 1981. Isn't that a nice way for me to begin my new approach to F1-Kimi zen. A baptism of fire of sorts. Pile on the stress early on and see if she cracks.
Outwardly, I'm fine. I don't shout negatives at the tv, everything is all positive encouragements at a low-ish volume, sometimes applauding a move made on my own beloved driver. I guess this shows an emotional maturity on my part. That I can appreciate a great overtaking maneuver on Kimi without feeling resentful (read: wanting to bash my tv to pieces in frustration, or better yet, the driver in questions head!). I can even go as far as to say that I am able to enjoy watching the race even when it is a clear foregone conclusion that Kimi will not be anything worth mentioning in the news the next day.
But the slow mist of despair is starting to shroud my calmness. To curb/squelch the feelings dredged up by the awful start to the season Ferrari has made and make up for feeling bummed about the lacklustre performances, I have been reviewing the F1 2007 season race videos, specifically the Brazilian GP where Kimi won the race making him world champion. I thought it'd keep me from feeling disheartened but it kinda has me feeling worse. It just reminds me of the better times when they were on top and its hard to watch the struggles they are going through and being written off as non-entities this season. I know its the karmic circle, one minute you're at the top of the wheel and the next you're at the bottom, bla, bla, bla. Kimi has already had more than his fair share of being at the bottom. I think the guy deserves more than just the one break he got in '07. However painfully blissful it is to relive those '07 moments, it's become a drug and I keep watching that race over and over again since the Chinese GP yesterday.
It's not just on Kimi but Ferrari as a whole. They are simply too behind in the 2009 development, I can't seem to foresee an improvement in this coming weekend's race in Bahrain. I know they have talked about the car's development taking a step (or few, fingers crossed) forward at the Spanish GP but by then a lot of F1 pundits have said it might be too late. This is all especially more stressful as it could potentially be Kimi's last year in F1. He has never been one to conform to an F1 driver's mold and has mentioned before that breaking records set by drivers' past is not his aim. It is just to drive and win races. I could accept a retirement if he had managed to go on and win another championship but it will be a bitter pill to swallow if he leaves without achieving that. He is one of the most enigmatic drivers I have had the privelege to watch and it disappoints that he doesn't have more to show for it.
My hope was for him to launch a respectable campaign for this season but as it stands, this is a pipe dream at the moment. F1 is not the sport for playing catch up. By the time you are at the level of where the other cars were 3 races ago on a GP weekend, those other cars are most likely 2 levels ahead for that same race. It is hard to win coming from behind but not impossible. Kimi proved that in 2007 when he won his maiden championship. But all that aside, if Ferrari do decide to do minimal development on this year's car and instead concentrate on building for 2010 then I hope Kimi stays on for that. I cannot fathom walking away with a less than stellar swan song. When he leaves, I hope he gets all that he deserves and wants from formula 1 racing but I want it to be spectacular.
So, obviously I'm sounding like quite the nutter. But I'm so passionate about it. This sport and watching Kimi race is the one thing in my life right now that evokes such outward emotional responses. I'm usually more on the side of unemotional. Well, I project an air of "I-don't-care" attitude. There's always something going on internally. I want to remain positive. At least he has finished better than Felipe Massa and has outqualified him for grid positions twice in the first 3 races. I just hope Ferrari can actually finish the Bahrain race in the points with Kimi contributing. As it is, all they have is a big fat zero.
Nonetheless, however bleak the season is looking, Ferrari-Kimi can always rest assure that this tifosi will not give up on them.
